Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-05-20

Whether sorrel shall prove a troublesome
weed on not. depends in part on the char
acter Of the land and partly on the method
Of cropping pursued As great nuisance
as it is to many farmers, there are others,
even where il abounds, who scarcely re
gard it, This weed is worst on sandy land.
but when very troublesome it is a sign that
fertility, especially of vegetable matter and
of lime and potash is mainly exhausted.
The sorrel comes in when clover fails, be
cause then it finds a clear space to grow in,
and it will thrive with IA smaller amount
and less value of plant food than almost
anything else A sandy field red with sor
rel is natures protest against the process of
exhaustion. which has been carried so far
that more valuable forage cannot be grown.
1t is natures method of making vegetable
mould with such materials she is able to
produce. But sOrrel, even when most Wig
orous, is poor sod, and contains little val
liable fertilizing material. While nature is
rebuilding soil by the slow process of
growing sorrel and letting it decay, the
soil is being filled with millions of sorrel
seeds which will make infinite trouble as
soon Us increasing fertility makes it posi-
BILE to grow more valuable heritage. II we
can, however make the soil rich enough to
get good clover catch, the greatest diff
Guilty in subduing sorrel will be overcome.
On sandy soils clover generally fails, first
from lack of available mineral plant food,
usually lime or potash Clover is one OF
the greatest consumers of lime among farm
crops, and this explains the marvellous eff
feet of sulphate Of lime or land plaster in
making clover catch On heavy soil
dressing of 100 pounds of gypsum per acre
rarely fails 10 bring good clover. When it
fails on sandy soil, it is usually owing to
lack of available potash, and mixture Of
gypsum and either ashes or potash salts
will usually bring the land into condition
for growing clover again Stable manure
may also be necessary, for oh sandy soil AN
increase of vegetable matter Of any kind
can never come amiss As soon as the pos
sibity of growing clover is established, the
victory over sorrel is practically won. Seed
heavily with clover; Il peck or even ten
quarts of seed per acre will Ice none too
much. and it should he sown both ways, SO
rs to leave no vacancies unseeded. There
are presumably millions of sorrel seeds near
the surface ready to start into growth. The
object of seeding with clover is to get the
surface covered quickly, so that the sorrel
will be smuthered and unable to ripen any
seed If clover seed is sown uneVenly or
not thckly enough, this object is defeated,
when the only way is to let both clover and
weeds grow until the sorrel is nearly ready
to seed, when the piece should be plowed
and the experiment repeated One seasons
thorough cultivation with some hoed crop
will do much to destroy sorrel seeds, and
give better chance for success at the next
trial
On no account should clover fields infest-
ed with sorrel he pastured In fact, if the
Il an
soing substituted, sorrel would cease to be
a troublesome weed. A good catch of clo-
yer will smother sorrel SO that it cannot
seed the first season. Just in proportion as
the clover is eaten down or destroyed it
it leaves vacancies which the sorrel quickly
fills. No kind of grass is so easily injured
by trampling as is clover The trampling
of horses and cattle's feet not only brushes
the crown of the clover plant but it dis
turbs the surface soil, giving opportunity
for more weed seeds to grow. If all stock
is kept out of young clover from the time it
is sown until it comes III blossom and is
ready to cut for hay, most of the difficulty
with sorre and other small weeds will be
avoided.
1t is not often that sorrel becomes troub-
| esome ON heavy land. When it does it is
IA sign Of poorer farming than the same diff
ticulty on sandy or gravelly soils Clay
soils do not generally lack potash. though
they may not have it in available form for
| plant use. 1t is on sandy soil only when
the land becomes unproductive of valuable
! forage that surrel comes in But in clayey
soil it is generally because its fertility i,
| locked up in clods or drowned out by wa
ter, rather than lack of plant food, that the
| valuable clover and grasses fail and worth
| taE "a hAir nj Inn me Ia,
mechanical condition of the soil, though il
helps weeds to grow more vigorously, is, in
such cases. the necessary preliminary to de
struying them, because it helps clover and
the grasses to occupy the soil. Thus, un
| derdraining, summer following or the
thorough cultivation of some hoed croI
may be the very best means of clearing the
land from weeds
Repeated cultivation will not entirely rid
the land from seeds of sorrel after it has
been filed with them Only those brought
| within quarter of an inch of the surfac,
| will terminate, while the remainder will Ii,
dormant waiting their opportunity to sprout
and grow The best soil would become ex
hausted by trying to cultivate in hoed crop,
long enough to use up all the finer weet
seeds. The use of cultivation is to get the
land in condition so that clover and tn,
grasses can be grown. When this is &C
complished, thorough seeding with these
making a sod, will further improve the sol
and enable it to he proiitably cultivated
In the older states too much of the difficulty
with weeds is due to the fact that decreas
ing fertility has obliged farmers to give il
less care than formerly Neglected field,
are given over to weeds because too poor t,
grow anything else with profit. Wherever
this is the case making the land richer j,
the only certain remedy American Cuifi
rdtOr.